Somewhere Between Sulfuric Acid & Fast Talkers
by AccidentalShadows
Summary: When a new student arrives at the Xavier Instutite, she'll have to choose between her fellow X-Men teamates, and a certain fast talker from the Brotherhood. (LAST CHAPTER UP...CONCLUSION TO STORY...please R&R.)
1. Untouchable Acid

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, but I do own Kat/Acidwash.

Ok people, here's the deal. I'm really new to this whole thing and this is my first story. I'm having trouble with my account and adding chapters, so please forgive me if this doesn't turn out right.

Chapter 1: Untouchable Acid

Kat was still staring out of the window of her inconceivably dull math class, when the bell finally rung. She had no idea that it was humanly possible for any one thing to be as mind draining as school. Of course she had never really been to school like this before. She had always known a life of cold, homeless nights and days with out any real food, but she always had found away past that. Haste, the man that took her in made sure of that. But now all that mattered was the fact that she could go home, or the institute as it was more formally put. Kat went to her locker, and threw her books in and watched as kids walked past her, talking and laughing. She wanted to be a part of that but she knew that they would never accept her. She wasn't like them and never would be. The institute was suppose to be a place of refuge, somewhere where you could be accepted, treated as an equal, but Kat had always gone unnoticed and it was turning out that it was the same way at the institute too.  
Kat glanced down at her gloved hands. Her skin was never to touch any thing but her clothes. Her skin emitted a powerful hydrochloric acid that could burn through almost anything on contact. Even her hair was dangerous. The substance running through her veins wasn't blood, but several types of deadly venom and more corrosive acid. The professor had explained to her that the regular amino acids that make up normal human DNA had been enhanced by the x-gene and now she was walking acid. But she was grateful for the fact that she really didn't look any different from any one else, the only exception being that her eyes were a very bright neon green, along with her nails that she was also able to shoot acid and venom through. Other than that, she looked normal. With her brown hair, and her small but tough build. But her looks weren't her problem; it was her ability to socialize that had plagued her lack of a social life.  
The final bell rang as a signal to every one to either leave, or get to there after school obligations. Kat got her things out of her locker and headed for her new home. As she walked she passed the track field. Some kids were running, some were warming up and others were just talking. Kat had never understood the appeal of sports. She had seen how clumsy and foolish the other kids had looked when they played them and she had also witnessed the danger of doing something wrong while playing them. To much ridicule fallowed failure at somethong as competitve as sports. She continued to walk past the field at a steady pace, wanting to get home. She saw no point in gawking at something that didn't even concern her. Then she stopped. "Who's that?" She said under her breath. Some how the tall, thin boy looked familiar. He had blue eyes and, his most noticeable feature of course, being his pure white/platinum hair. Currently he was in his track uniform, and was talking with a group of kids. Kat just stood there staring, as a smile began to spread cross her face. She remembered now, he was the fast talking loud mouth from her English class. Pietro. That was his name. She had always found his comments amusing and even sometimes witty and she knew that he was smart though at times he hid it beneath he "bad boy" exterior. But Kat was quickly jerked from her thoughts when she saw him looking back at her, with an odd look on his face. Kat flashed him a "what-are-you- looking-at" smirk, waved and then turned and kept on walking before even seeing his reaction.  
That night after dinner, Kat did what she always did, went up to her room. The other kids usually stayed down stairs to watch t.v. or went out with friends, or did something other than subjecting themselves to solitude, but she had no where to go and nothing to watch, so she was relatively comfortable in her own room. But tonight, it had started to storm. The clouds had moved in long after school had ended, but shortly before dinner had started, setting the perfect time for rain. Kat loved the rain. It was the only other thing besides her clothes that ever touched her skin. She always had loved how the rain ran down her face and arms. It was the only time she could really feel, a sense that was most lost on her. And she seized every opportunity to take advantage of it. Kat calmly strolled along a sidewalk in rain, every now and then she would stop, look up, and shake out her hair of it's containing moisture. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew her hair straight back. The gust had come from what seemed like no where. It was an odd occurance, but she thought little of it and figured that the storm was just getting worse so she started for home. All the time she wondered why she had stopped and noticed Pietro. It wasn't like she ever talked to him or even knew him that well. All she did was sit next to him in English. She thought that she had even once heard that he was with the Brotherhood but still saw no reason to bother thinking about him. In slight confusion at her own strange behavior, she ceased her thoughts as she arrived back at the institute 


	2. Defining Uncertainty

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, but I do own Kat/Acidwash.  
  
Here's the second chapter and I really want to thank EVERYONE who read and reviewed my story, thus far. I'm really glad you liked my character. Once again thanks.  
  
-Chapter 2: Defining Uncertainty  
  
Kat was awoken by the blaring music of her alarm clock. She hated mornings, she was more of a night owl, preferring it to be dark over light. But Kat dragged herself from her warm bed and proceeded to change from her pajamas and into her jeans, black tank-top and gloves, and then finally her old olive colored army coat. Her clothes and bed sheets were the made out of a special material that could resist her skin. In other words, her clothes were made so that they couldn't burn right off her body. Kat grabbed her backpack off her desk and headed down stairs.  
~*~*~ She thought about eating breakfast, and decided that a cookie would be sufficient. Food was food, and food, was just one of those things Kat had learned to live without. So Kat drudgingly trudged down stairs to the kitchen, only to find another mutant looking through cupboards. He had blue fur, a pointed tail, sharp teeth and other odd features, that made him quite noticeable around the boarding school. She had seen him the day she arrived and always saw him with at least one or more other people. One of those social butterflies that she never even thought about approaching. "Oh, hello there," he said with a smile on his face. 'Great, a morning person,' she thought to herself. "Hi my names Kurt, are you new?" he asked through his germen accent. "Sort of," She said looking down. She knew she was stuck, so she smiled her best 'nice to meet you' smile and went on to look for a box of cookies. "Name's Kat" she added not looking up. "Oh, vell, it's very nice to meet you!" he replied cheerfully. "Do you like living at the institute?" Kurt asked trying to make conversation. "It's better than the streets," Kat said quickly. She wasn't good with polite conversation. Kat finally found a box of old cookies and pulled one out. She stood up and grabbed her backpack off the table and headed for the door. "Vhere are you going? School doesn't start for another half an hour, and Scott usually drives us to school any ways," Kurt said to her seeing that she was about to leave. "I like to walk, besides I get car sick." She said over her shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen. It wasn't any thing against Kurt or Scott, or whoever else would be going to school "together", it was more like Kat just wasn't' big into the whole group thing. She constantly felt twisted about the subject of people. One minute she wanted to be with them, talk to them; be a part of them, then the next, she disliked them. They would talk to you once, judge you, then based on that quick judgment, either talk or in most cases, never talk to you again.  
~*~*~  
Kat went around back to get her bike. It was one of the few things she had brought with her to the institute. It was her most treasured possession. Kat like to ride it at the skate park. There she could ride up and down the ramps that was what she considered relaxing. Kat rode quickly to the park. She knew she didn't have much time but felt like she needed something to feel calm about right now. When she got there she saw that someone had beaten her to the ramps already. The African American boy was about her age, and she knew she had seen him at the institute before. He seemed like a loner himself at times. He had blonde hair and looked like one of those street skaters, fresh from the city. He was currently on a skateboard, and she wondered if he'd care that she was there, so she went ahead and rode on in. the boy looked up for a minute at her presence and then continued to skate. Kat rode up and down the ramps a couple times. She wasn't a pro or any thing, just a regular ramp rider. After a while Kat stopped only to realize the time. She got her backpack and started to leave. "Hey!" she heard from be hind. Kat turned around to see the boy talking to her. "Yeah?" she said, but it came out more like a question. "You know, your pretty good," said the boy. "Uhh, thanks, you too." Kat wasn't sure how to take the compliment. "I haven't seen you around here before," he said back to her. "Just moved here to the institute, you live there too, don't you?" she asked. "Yeah man, sorry guess I never noticed ya," he said putting one hand behind his head, in the other his board. "No one ever does..." Kat said as she turned to start leaving again. Every one seemed to see her for the first time to day. And she wasn't sure if she liked it or not. "Hey, name's Even. Nice to meet ya," Even called as Kat continued to walk with her bike. "Call me Kat, likewise," she said now facing him and walking backwards. Kat turned back around and hopped on her bike and headed for school.  
~*~*~  
English was Kat's second period. She strolled into the classroom and sat down at her usual seat. Yet another day spent on the ever-tiring subject of the theme "Against All Odds". That was their current unit of study. 'Right' she thought. When against all odd, you lose. It was purely that simple. Suddenly there was a large commotion out side in the hall. Kat looked up to see none other than Pietro in the hall. What a surprise. After the bell rang Pietro's group dismembered and he himself walked into the room finding his own seat next to hers. Class soon started as the teacher droned in on cue about the previous night's homework. "Hey," he said as he leaned back in his chair and looked over to her. "What is it today?" she said out loud as she rolled eyes in Pietro's direction. "Well excuu-sue meee! Just trying to make friendly conversation." Pietro said in his usual fast paced tone. "Sorry," Kat replied. "I was just going to say, your that chick that was staring at me yesterday, don't be embarrassed, happens a lot." He said with a smirk on his face. He was so arrogant; it would be fun trying to put him down. "I'm sure it does. But how 'bout this, can you say modesty?" Kat said in a voice that would usually be used to talk to a baby. "Feisty. And it's only our first meeting. You move fast, I like that." Pietro was still leaning back in his chair; he had a grin on his face that made him look obvious in his attempt to be smooth. Kat looked over to him. "Who said I was moving towards you?" she replied a smirk of her own forming. She waited for the retaliation. "I'm sure you catch all your victims that way." She added for good measure. "Who me? You make it sound like I'm the bad guy?" he replied in a mock-hurt voice. "Well maybe you are." Kat said with a nod of assurance. "So what does that make you?" he asked back. "What do you care?" Kat said. "Mr. Maximoff!" yelled the teacher out of nowhere. "Yes?" he replied coolly. "Since you were just engaged in such a fascinating conversation, maybe you could tell me a bit about our next story?" the teacher adjusted her glasses and continued her steely gaze at Pietro. "...and that story would be?" he asked as calm as ever. "Romeo & Juliet". "Ok, boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they like each other and then he goes and screws himself by committing suicide cause he can't date the chick." Pietro replied, trying to look cool by looking over his nails and not at the teacher. "Really," said the teacher with a frown. "Sometimes I wonder about you, Pietro. The REAL story is about..." Kat stopped listening after that. "So according to you, when someone isn't selfish, they're just stupid." Kat snapped at Pietro. "I didn't say that, it's just why go to the extreme of killing yourself over a girl, when you can go out and find another one?!" he said with a shrug. "You make it sound like we're merchandise," Kat hissed back. "What are you so offended for?" Pietro asked. "You're a real jerk," she said back. That was the best she could do. "Oh, I'm not even warmed up yet..." Pietro said with a smirk at her. She was now a challenge, and Pietro Maximoff, could not resist a challenge.  
  
More to come... 


	3. Talking Out of Turn

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, but I do own Kat/Acidwash.  
  
-Ok, the first thing I would like to address is that I'm really sorry about spelling Evan's name wrong. My fault.*bad me, BAD!* Second thing, I would like to thank: Electric Fire, RoqueyMaximoff, and bitrona for all R&R my story. PLAEASE continue to read and tell me how I'm doing.  
  
-Chapter 3: Talking Out of Turn  
  
It had to stop. That was all Kat had to say about the residing problem that was becoming Pietro. He had now resorted to talking to her in English: which of coarse ended up more like flirtatious bickering, and smiling and waving to her in the halls. She wasn't denying the fact that he was charming: he was. And she wasn't denying the fact that he was handsome: he was. His legs were long, without being scrawny, while his upper body was rather muscular. His face was genuinely handsome without loosing any boyish charm, with his cool blue eyes and constant look of confidence. No, it was the fact that he was a pompous, jerk-ish, playboy that made Kat feel like she needed to loathe him. But all the while, she couldn't help but to wonder why Pietro was even bothering with her, since he had his pick of almost any physically absorbed girl in the school. Most of the time she shrugged it off. What did she care if Mr. Popularity talked to her or not, but even Kat knew that wasn't how she really felt.  
~*~*~  
"Hey Kat!" said a voice from behind her. Kat turned around to see that it was Evan. She smiled. Ever since she had unofficially met him in the park he had been about the closest thing to a friend that she had ever had. "Hey, what's up?" she asked as she stopped and waited for him to catch up in the hall. "Nothing, I was just wondering if you had you Bio Homework with you?" he asked with a look of hope mixed with worry. "Sorry, I have Bio right after lunch, so that of coarse means that it won't be done 'til after lunch." She replied. She didn't believe in doing homework, at home any way. "Oh man, my teacher's gonna kill me!" Evan groaned. "What, you don't do your homework too?" Kat said with a friendly smirk. "You could say that." He replied. "Well, gotta go if I'm gonna get my homework down before the teacher collects it. See ya!" Evan shouted over his shoulder as he ran towards his class. Kat finally approached her locker. She opened it and threw in some of her books, only to pull out more. "How's it going?" asked yet another voice from above her. She recognized the suave, yet annoying voice to be only one person's. "What do you want Pietro?" She said in a frustrated tone, not even looking up from her locker. "Well now is that anyway to treat your good friend Pietro?" Pietro commented. "Whoever said you were my 'good friend' anyway?" Kat snapped back looking up from her locker, but still not at Pietro. "What have I ever done to you to make dislike me so much?" He asked not letting it go. She thought for a minute, but then caught her self. She would NOT let herself fall victim to this guy. "Your nothing but a stuck up jerk who thinks he can get any girl he wants by acting charming. That's what makes me dislike you. And, I'm not falling for it!" She shouted at him standing up and looking him straight in the eye. He calmly looked back at her. "...So you do think I'm charming then?". "That's what I'm talking about, Pietro!" Kat was too aggravated to finish; she just started walking towards her next class. Pietro fallowed. "What? You should be glad I'm being friendly, trust me you don't want me as an enemy!" He said with another one of his devious smirks forming. She stopped walking and spun around to Pietro's face and looked him in the eyes again. "What are you trying to say?" She asked in a hard tone. Pietro blushed and gave a look of sincere surprise. "Well...a...just that...you know...you shouldn't be so bossy and self righteous and be grateful for my company, it's not something I give out for free ya know!" He said. Pietro felt almost foolish for letting him be potentially caught off guard like that. "Darn, thought I almost had Quick-Tongue, tongue tied," She gave him her best innocent-sweet smile. "Bye Pietro," Kat said as she turned and walked away.  
~*~*~  
Kat prepped herself for going on stage. She had to get to the bottom of this whole 'Pietro thing', and she knew there was only one way to do it. Get the gossip. She was going to have to talk to Kitty, another mutant at the institute. Kitty was a fully loaded, socialite: boyfriend and all. She prepared her best smile and warmed herself up for full girlie-girl acting. That was what Kat did. Acted. When you got caught by the police: you were on stage, if someone thought you were suspicious: you were on stage, and now when she had to go talk to someone that she didn't want to, she would have to go on stage and act. Kat liked to act, and she was good at it too. Pretending she was something she was not, escaping reality was how she had remained sane, as a young child and here she was doing it again. She put on her finest 'happy' smile and walked over. "Hey, my name's Kat, I'm sorta new here. I kinda just moved to the Xasvier Institute. You live there too, don't you?" She said in the most bubbly, subtle valley-girl voice she could muster. "Oh, like hi, yeah, I live there to, sorry 'bout not welcoming you and everything, but life can kinda get hectic around here and stuff." Kitty replied in a peppy voice. "Oh, don't worry about it. Hey I heard that your great with what we might call gossip?" She said not understanding how someone would be proud of gossip, but she went ahead with the subject anyway. "Well I don't want to brag, but if it, like, happens at this school, I probably know about it." Kitty said with a big smile. "I was just wondering what kind of dirt do you have a this guy named Pietro?" She asked still with her cheerful face on. Kitty's eyebrow went up. "He's part of the brotherhood. In other words, he's, like, no good. He can move really fast, but he's a total jerk." She said in somewhat disgust. "Why do you ask?" Kat's face went serious for a moment and then back to perky. "No reason, just trying to figure out who's the best to hang with...that's all." She said flashing another sickly sweet smile. "Oh, well in that case, you could just, like, hang out with us!" Kitty said regaining her bubbly-ness again. Kat was afraid of this. She didn't want to be in the conversation any more, but now she was trapped. "Us?" She implied her question. "Yeah, like, you know, Scott Summers, Jean Gray, Kurt Wagner, and well, US!" Kitty said. "Oh, well in that case..." She stalled. She was praying for the bell to ring so that she didn't have to finish her sentence. But the bell seemed to stall as Kitty twisted her face in confusion at Kat not ending her sentence completely. "...Count me in!" The words almost ached as she said them, still up holding her pep. "Great!" Just then the bell rang. "I'll see you soon!" Kitty called as she proceeded to leave. "Wonderful, now you ring..." Kat hissed under her breath.  
~*~*~  
Kat laid on her bed, thinking. Pietro Maximoff. 'No, think about something...someone else!' Kat thought. "Well, tomorrow in Bio, we start the genetics unit. And in English, Ms, Drake is assigning the roles for the reading of "Romeo & Juliet", so I wonder whom I'll get. Wonder who Piet- NO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE!'. Kat's mind was a war. She needed a walk. It wasn't raining, but the current cool breeze would do. She got up and successfully made it down stairs with out running into anyone. Now just to get outside and away. "Kat," She stopped cold. "I was wondering if you, like, wanted to come with us to the mall." It was Kitty. Kat wheeled around slowly. "And you're on in 3, 2, 1, ACTION!" "Sure, sounds great!" She said now flashing a smile. "Great! Come on we're leaving now!" said Kitty in her usual ecstatic voice. "So, who's coming?" Kat asked. She would have to act all night now, and she was afraid that if she had to smile like she was any longer, her face would get stuck. "Oh, Scott, Jean, Kurt, Rogue and...me!" Kitty said tugging Kat down stairs. She went reluctantly but didn't really feel like she had a choice in the matter. Scott's car was now insight. 'Fancy', she thought to herself, 'wonder how he got that?'. "Hey Kitty, can we go now?" Scott said. Then he stopped and noticed that Kitty wasn't alone. "Who's this?" He said looking at Kat with one raised eyebrow. Kat shot him a sticky-sweet smile. "Oh, everyone, this is Kat. She's, like, coming with us!" Kitty percolated. Kat raised a gloved hand and waved. She had never really seen Rogue before but thought that she looked like the kind of people she used to know. City street kids that could care more about how to get their daily supply of vitamin D, than about you. "Hey, we already met! Remember, the kitchen?" Said Kurt with in his outgoing type tone. He was no longer blue, but looked completely normal. "Of coarse I remember! It's nice to meet you all." She said looking from mutant to mutant. The looks on their faces were pleasant enough, but they were still strangers. She would use caution. "Nice to meet you," Jean piped up, trying to get things moving. Kat just continued to smile. "Can we get going now?" asked Scott again. "Yeah, sure lets go. I've been dying to go shopping!" bubbled Kitty as every one started to get in the car. Jean and Scott sat up front, while everyone else piled into the back. Kat made sure to tuck her hair into her coat before getting in. she figured scaring someone with burn marks for the rest of their life was probably NOT a good way to make a good first impression.  
~*~*~  
The ride to the mall hadn't taken that long, but it had been interesting. Kitty gossiped a little, Kurt rolled his eyes at her, and Scott and Jean just sat quietly next to each other looking like they both enjoyed each other's awkward presence. Kat was frankly amused. She figured that being around them would be a learning experience. The Bayville Mall was rather large and was a good place to see and be seen. She just hoped she wouldn't run into Pietro. Scott looked at his watch after they were inside. "Well we might as well split up and meet back here in...". "Scott, this isn't a mission, it's the mall. How about just, like, letting everyone do there own thing?" Kitty said as she started to pull Kat towards a shoe store. "Alright, I guess..." Scott said grimly as he watched them walk away. Kat saw Rogue head off in a completely different direction, and some how wished that she could go with her. "Uh...Kitty, I'm not much of a shoe person, but I need to use the bathroom, so I'll be back in a bit." Kitty stopped for a minute. She almost looked sad about Kat leaving but quickly perked up. "Well, be back soon, there's a lot to see." She said with a smile and continued to walk towards the shoe store. Kat headed off in Rogue's direction. She was tired of acting and thought that out of all the people she had come here with, Rogue would require the least amount of acting. "Hey...one minute!" She called to Rogue, finally catching up to her. Rogue stopped, turned around and then continued to walk at a slower pace. Kat caught up and walked beside her for a moment. Rogue crossed her arms and looked down in the opposite direction of Kat. "What do you want?" She asked. Her voice hinted at a southern accent. "Nothing, I just figured that if I had to be stuck at this god-forsaken mall all night, I might as be with someone that won't talk, instead of talking my ear off." Rogue wasn't sure if that had been cruelty, a compliment, or just an attempt at friendly conversation. "Yeah, Kitty does talk a lot, a little too much if you ask me." Her tone was a bit softer, but she still stared off in the other direction to avoid eye contact. "How can someone that talks so much, say so little?" Kat replied, easing up herself. "I guess when you're little miss popular, everything comes natural, including gossip." Rogue said, lifting her head to meet more with Kat's. Kat prepared her ditsy voice, a smile forming. "Everything except, like, shutting up!" They both smiled at each other. The curtain closed. 'Due to social changes, to nights performance will be cut short.'  
  
More to come...  
  
Ok, a few added things to address: -1) Sorry this chapter took SO long to complete. Between getting stuck and school, I haven't had any time to do the one thing I actually enjoy. -2) I'm not very happy with this chapter. I didn't cover as much as I would've liked, but ya win some, ya loose more. -3) As you can probably tell I've added that little stage-metaphor analogy thing. It has a purpose, there will be more through out the story. 


	4. Running In Circles

Disclaimer: We've been through this...I don't own X-Men, but I do own Kat/Acidwash.  
  
-O.k., here we go, chapter four. I'm going to do better this time...I promise. No really, I do. Sorry about forgetting to mention important stuff like the fact that this takes place before people knew about mutants, and before Pietro was with his father but still knew who he was. Yeah, it's just during one of those little 'in between times'. Thanks for the reviews. PLEASE keep reading. I really, really, really look forward to hearing from you.  
  
-Chapter 4: Running in Circles  
  
Pietro walked up the stairs that led to the school with books in one hand and his other hand running coolly through his hair. He was always on time for school. On the days he ACTUALLY came to school anyways. He could be anywhere he wanted to be really, it was just a matter of going in the right direction. But then he stopped. He saw something that caught him off guard. It was his current challenge, Kat, getting out of Scott Summer's car. The same Scott Summers who lived in the Xavier Institute. The same Scott Summers that was known as Cyclops. The same Cyclops that fought with the X-Men. The same X-Men that he hated. This meant that she was a mutant too. He smiled to himself. The plot thickened. Now instead of just trying to get her to fall for him, he would get her to jump the X-Men too. No longer was it fun and games it was fun, games, and business.  
~*~*~  
"Thanks for the ride Scott!" Kat said with a wave. Ever since the mall, she had felt more relaxed about being with the other kids at the Institute. Maybe here it was actually safe to become friends. They were still strangers, but maybe not ALL strangers were out to get you. "Did I see you just get out of The Infamous Scott Summers car?" asked Pietro as he appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, next to Kat. She turned to look at him with a smile. "What? Jealous?" she asked. He raised his eyebrow. "Me? Jealous? Never. So...you live at the Xavier Institute?" he asked, now forming his nastiest smirk. Kat was stunned. She was afraid to answer. "What if I do?" she asked feeling nervous. "Well then would that make you a mut-" Kat grabbed his arms, letting her books drop to the ground. He was much taller than she was, but she still held on. He looked at her, shocked. "Pietro, don't go there. I know you're a part of the Brotherhood, so that would make you one too, so I wouldn't..." she stopped, realizing that she was making a scene. "...Wouldn't what?" he said in a snide tone. She let go of him and just stood for a moment, then bent down and started to pick up her books. "Sorry," She mumbled not looking up. He bent down and helped her. "So, what's your little gift?" he asked. She stopped and looked at him. She thought for a minute, not knowing if she should tell him, or just leave. Then she smiled and began to pull off a protective glove. Pietro watched. Kat looked up to make sure no one was watching, and then placed her hand, palm down on the ground. It made a small sizzling noise and then she pulled her hand away. A handprint had been eating into the concrete. "Hydrochloric acid. My skin emits it, so any contact with my hair or skin will almost instantly...leave a mark. With the exception of my clothes, it'll burn through almost anything." She said almost grimly. Pietro just continued to smirk at her. "Impressive." She saw his smirk and knew she had been tricked. This was just another one of his mechanisms. She would not just give in like that. "What do you want from me, Pietro?" she asked. He stopped. She wasn't as dumb as some of the other girls at their school were. But if he played his cards right, he could use her to get at the X- Men. That would get everyone's attention. That would get his father's attention. "What makes you think I want something?" he asked sweetly. She thought for a moment. What if he was telling the truth? She didn't really know him well enough to judge. But he was a bad guy...wasn't he. NO. She wouldn't put up the white flag just like that. If he really wasn't out to get her, he would have to prove it. "Because you wouldn't have bothered with me for so long if there wasn't something in it for you." She said. "I'm just being friendly, that's all." He stopped walking next to her and then turned to face her. "And like I said, that's not something I do every day, for just any one." He gave her his most charming smirk and then started to walk away. "You're still a jerk!" Kat called to him with a big smile.  
~*~*~  
Biology had to be the most boring subject of the day besides her next and final class, Math. The Genetics unit was going to be a blast, since human DNA was about the last thing she wanted to hear about. "Good afternoon." Said the teacher as she strolled in after the bell had rung. "I would like to start off by saying that first of all, this week we will being doing a lab associated with our genetics unit, so I would appreciate it if you all picked your partners now." A low murmur spread over the class as kids excitedly pared up with their friends. Kat just sat there. She didn't talk to anyone in class, so she figured she would either get the kid no one else wanted, or she would be stuck working alone. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, but no one except the teacher and Kat, who had no one to talk to so was just sitting there, noticed. She was surprised to see that the unexpected visitor was Kurt. "Uh, hi, I vas just transferred into this class, today." He said in an almost nervous tone as he handed the teacher a note. "I see, well find a seat and a lab partner, Mr. Wagner." The teacher said stuffing the note into her desk. Kurt looked around the room to discover Kat sitting alone in the back. He walked over and sat down. "Hey! I didn't know you vere in this class?" he said with a smile as he laid his backpack on the floor next to him. Kat smiled. "Yeah, interesting coincidence." She replied. She was almost relieved about having someone to at least partner up with that wasn't a complete stranger. "Be my partner?" he asked, still smiling. "Do I have a choice?" She replied in a happy tone.  
~*~*~  
Pietro lay on his bed, after he had gotten home from school. The other Brotherhood members were down stairs doing god-knew what. He didn't care. He didn't care about them, or anyone else for that matter. That was rule number one. Watch out for your own skin, and everyone else is on their own. That was the way it went, or at least that was what his father done. That was what his father had taught him to do. Right? For right now it didn't matter, he was coming up with a plan, or trying to anyway. "PIETRO!" yelled a voice from down stairs. Pietro rolled his eyes and got up. 'What do those idiots want now?' he thought to himself. He zipped down the stairs and into the so-called living room. "What?" he said, his arms crossed, his eyebrow raised. Lance, Toad, and Fred all stood in the living room. "You supposedly live here too? Right?" asked Lance in a testy tone. "What's your point Alvers?" Pietro asked with his arms crossed. He felt impatient. "My point is, is that we are running low on cash, and you better find a way to help out!" he shouted at Pietro. That was Lance, he was the self appointed leader. Pietro had learned to brush it off. Lance might have been able to push the other guys around, but he couldn't tell him what to do. No body could tell Pietro what to do. "I don't have to do any thing, I'm not even here most of the time!" he replied haughtily. Toad sat in the corner with Blob just watching the fight. Lance and Pietro were not fun to fight with on their own, much less when they fought each other. "Yeah, well you are here some of the time and that's enough time to help with costs around here!" Lance yelled as he grabbed Pietro's shirt and pushed him against a wall. "Right, well then you can watch me not be here!" He shouted back as he zipped out of the manner.  
~*~*~  
Kat just leaned against her locker, watching. Watching as Pietro, aka Mr. Popular, stood and chattered with a bunch of blushing beauties. The giggling group hoarded over him like he was their first Prada bag or something. It was truly sad. And what was saddest of all, was that he was eating it all up. "Are you ok?" asked a voice from behind her, snapping her back to reality. Kat turned to see Rogue standing next to her. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little preoccupied." She said as the two girls started to head up the hall together. "Well, you looked like you we're about to kill somebody." Rogue commented through her southern accent. "It's fine. I'm good. It's just some people annoy me a little, that's all." Kat said tucking a loose strand of hair back into place. Rogue just looked down as usual. "Yeah, most people around here have a bad habit of doing that." Rogue added. Kat laughed lightly. "No kidding." She replied. Rogue approached her classroom and waved to Kat. "Gotta go." She said as she walked into her class.  
~*~*~  
  
"Well, we just keep running into each other don't we?" said Pietro as he came up behind Kat, as she made her out of the school. Another mind-droning school day was over. "No Pietro, YOU keep running into ME." She said as she continued to walk forward, acting like she didn't notice that he was now walking with her. "You make it sound like that's a bad thing." Pietro replied with a sarcastic laugh. "What do you want?" she asked. "Why do I always have to want something to talk to you?" he answered like he was offended. "If you really want to talk so bad, why don't you get your little groupie? I'm sure they'd be stupefied just by you walking near them." She sneered. "Oooo, somebody's jealous!" He said in his fast-paced tone with a satisfied smile. "Shut up you egotistical moron." She snorted and walked faster. Pietro had no trouble keeping up. "You are jeal-" "If you came to talk to me then TALK!" she practically yelled. Pietro smiled. "Ok, but I didn't have anything particular in mind." He lied. They both walked beside each other for a while in awkward silence. Pietro didn't like awkward silence. In fact, he didn't like silence at all. "So, how did you find out I was a part of the Brotherhood?" he asked trying to soften her mood. He would have to play innocent if he wanted to get the information he wanted from her. Kat was a bit calmer now. "I have my sources." She replied. "That's right I keep forgetting that your with the X-Men." Said Pietro. She turned and glared at him as they walked. "What? I was just stating a fact. I mean you are, aren't you?" he said. She thought for a moment. "I don't really know. I train with everyone else, but I don't know if I'm thought of as an actual part of the X-Men, or not." Pietro nodded as if he understood. "So you use that 'Danger Room' thing, then?" he asked. He knew what he needed to find out, and he was succeeding at getting his information. "Yeah, there's all that technical stuff, like the danger room, but I only know where the room is, not how to work it or anything. I do know though, that the danger room is NOT fun." Kat wasn't angry now and didn't mind talking to him as much. "I guess the whole mansion is pretty technical. But like I said, I don't know too much about it." Pietro's smile grew. He had found out exactly what he wanted for today. He knew that if he got her to say too much at once, his plan would be ruined, so he let the subject drop for the time being. "Sorry to cut it short, but I've got business to take care of. See ya later." He said and began to leave. "Right, well, that's the last time I bother talking to you." Kat muttered as she rolled her eyes. He hadn't listened to a word she'd said, or at least that's what she thought.  
~*~*~  
Kat strolled into the kitchen and threw her backpack down on a chair. She was in a fairly good mood and had chosen to celebrate her unusually happy disposition with one of the cookie's she had found as a breakfast source. As she dug around the cupboards in attempts to relocate her cookies once more, she heard someone enter the kitchen. "Man, what are you doing?" asked a familiar voice. Kat looked up with a smile to see Evan digging in the refrigerator for a bottle of water. "Looking for a long lost box of cookies," She replied, standing up. "But I think there're long gone." Evan just raised an eyebrow. "Your in a good mood." He commented as he unscrewed the bottle and took a long drink. "Yeah, I guess," She said. "So, where are you headed off to?" she asked. Evan put down the bottle and replaced the cap. "I was thinking about going to the park to skate...wanna come?" he said. Kat nodded. "Sure, I'll just go get my bike."  
  
-Side Note: Yep, I deliver unto you yet another bad chapter. Sorry. I'll understand if you yell at me. But if you are reading this, please tell your friends and what not, to read too. It's not like I don't love the people that are (I do love you all...do you know how hard it is to get a cookie inside an e-mail?) but I'm sort of waiting for more reviews, before I finish my next chapter. 


	5. Dangerously Corrosive

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, but I sure as heck own Kat/Acidwash (oh, yeah and I don't own Lacreymosa either, however it's really spelled).  
  
I'm back with vengeance! Ok, not really, I've just got another chapter for you all. Hopefully, a better chapter than my last two. I don't have too much to say, other than thanking you all for the reviewing you've been doing for me, and just wanted to say sorry about the whole paragraphing thing. I will start separating the dialog from the rest of the story, the best that I can. I'm also sorry if you can't read this very well, I don't really know what to do about that. Every time I try to space things, it always gets all messed up like. Well, with that said, here's the next chapter. Enjoy...  
  
-Chapter 5: Dangerously Corrosive  
  
"Alright, alright people, settle down. Now let's get right to the lab. You only have a week, so we might as well get right to business." The teacher yelled as the bell rang and the last few stragglers slipped into class. "First take the liquid chemicals on your desks and pour them into the test tube in front of you." Class droned. Kat looked over to see Kurt with his head propped up on his arm, looking somewhat unconscious. She could take no more.  
  
"Now proceed to take the powdered mixture and-"  
  
"Hey, watch this," she said with a devious grin as she began to pull off one of her protective gloves.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Kurt, quickly perking up, seeing that she was probably going to do something to get them in trouble.  
  
"Just watch," she said still grinning. After she had one glove off she held her bare index finger directly over the test tube, as a single drop of a greenish colored liquid formed from her bright green nail, and fell into the chemicals below. Almost instantly the test tube bubbled and overflowed with a blackish-green substance. The test tube broke and the bubbling liquid started to eat away at the countertop of the desk.  
  
"OH MY GOD!" shouted the teacher as she ran over to the table, seeing the small biohazard that had formed. "Quick some one go get the janitor!" A most of the kids laughed, two of them being Kurt and Kat. But after the teacher had finally regained control of the class, Kurt and Kat stopped laughing.  
  
"I would like an explanation of what just happened!" shouted the teacher after having both accused students march to the front of the room. She glared at them from behind her pair of glasses. Kurt looked nervously up at her but Kat knew it was time to go on stage.  
  
"We were just fallowing your directions. We poured the powdered chemicals into the tube just as you said when it started to bubble." She said, giving her best innocent look, figuring if she needed to, she could easily whip up a few tears too. The teacher's face softened. "Maybe we got the wrong kit by accident." She said with a weak shrug.  
~*~*~ Kat watched in amusement as the choir teacher barked at the class like a small dog on a leash. Lachrymose was a hard enough song to sing without the constant roar of Ms. Jarron yelling at them about taking a breath too soon. Of coarse standing the whole period on crowded risers in the auditorium for a class that she hated didn't make things any easier. Kat hadn't gotten a choice or not in the matter of taking choir, it was just manually put there for her enjoyment. She often mouthed the words instead of actually singing them herself because of not only her strong dislike for the teacher, but inability to sing. But the worst part of the class, was that it was boring too. Just standing there making unnecessary noise was right next to math and biology. The only amusement she could ever drum up out of the situation, was watching to distorted look on people's faces as the happened to pass the aud.'s open doors. The combine volume of the choir and their trouble hitting the exact notes always caused the passer-buyers to stop and stare for a moment, until they remembered that they actually had some where to go. So far she had counted 12 people stop and stare.  
  
"COME ON, THERE IS NO BREAK THERE!" screamed Ms. Jarron, practically falling over. Kat snickered lightly at the twitching teacher, only to look up to see the thirteenth person stop to stare. She couldn't believe it. She was safe nowhere. There in the door way stood Pietro, happily grinning at the distressed choir. Kat quickly turned away. Maybe he hadn't seen her. Maybe he didn't know she was there. As she turned she saw several other girls giggle and wave to Pietro who had now taken a seat in the very back of the auditorium. It hadn't occurred to her that possibly, hopefully, Pietro had come to flirt with his numerous little liaisons. But what ever he was truly hanging around for, he managed to stay until the end of class.  
  
"That was lovely. So, are you a soprano or an alto?" Pietro asked in his usual cocky tone as he walked along side Kat.  
  
"For your information, I don't even bother singing, but supposedly, I'm an alto. What do I owe the pleasure of your presence in the auditorium?" she asked with a smile. "Or am I to believe that it was somebody else you were watching?"  
  
Pietro's face perked up at Kat's sarcasm. "Oh, don't worry, you don't owe me that much, and no, though I was greatly tempted to go astray, I was too shocked that YOU would be in a thing like chorus to pay attention to any one else." He said with great satisfaction.  
  
"What you don't think I can sing?"  
  
"No, I just don't see you as the vocal type."  
  
"Well, you're probably right. I mean I do hate chorus with a passion. It's not like I enjoy acting like an idiot every day on those godforsaken risers." She hadn't realized that she had just agreed with him until after the words were out of her mouth, and then she quickly regretted it.  
  
"What? Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? Did you just say I was right? It's about time that you started recognizing my genius." Pietro said, a broad sneer glowing across his face.  
  
"Why don't you come back down to earth, and stop being so cocky. I didn't mean anything by it, so just breathe." Kat walked a little faster through the hall, even though she knew it wouldn't get him to go away.  
  
"Fine but I'm glad your finally catching on." She glared coldly at him and he decided to move on with the subject. "If you hate it so much, than why don't you just skip? I do it all the time."  
  
"Because they take attendance." She replied flatly. "And I have no where to go while 'skipping'."  
  
"I do. Like I said, I could get you out of it, no problem. So what do ya say, I mean you're not scared or anything are ya?" he questioned in a taunting voice.  
  
"Hey, challenges might work for you, but I'd like to think I'm a little stronger than that." She said nattily. Then she thought for a moment. The worst thing to happen to her was detention. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad." She said thinking out loud. Pietro just continued to smile. This was perfect and if the professor, who would undoubtedly find out and put her through some 'light punishment', all would go as planned. "Good, just be ready tomorrow."  
~*~*~ Kat felt more stupid than usual in choir, as she watched the hall like a hawk, waiting for Pietro to appear around in the doorway. Class had just started and she was afraid that he wasn't going to actually show up.  
  
"I'm looking for Kat Pierce." Said a voice from the back of the auditorium. Kat smiled. 'So he's not as big a schemer as I thought', she thought to her self.  
  
"What?" said the teacher as she turned to face the interruption.  
  
"She's needed in the office." Pietro acted as if had been doing this all day.  
  
"Oh, ok, whatever, go." Ms. Jarron replied not even looking up from her sheet music. Kat proudly walked down from the risers, before remembering to act like she had no idea what was going on.  
  
"So where's exactly are you dragging me off to?" Kat asked skeptically.  
  
"You'll see. I must say though, I give you more credit than the rest of those X-losers. You actually have guts." Pietro would have never said anything like that, if he hadn't needed her to trust him. Complements weren't his thing. He was better at insulting or teasing, not giving people an easy time. It was just another defense in others people's eyes, but Pietro just blamed it on his awful nature. Kat looked at him somewhat confused, and even a bit flattered but decided to shake it off and just fallow him. When they managed to make it out the front door and started down the street toward the busy part of town, was when she figured that she should say something.  
  
"Ok, it was one thing to skip class, but to leave school?" Kat said a hint of nervousness in her voice.  
  
"C'mon, it's not that far and let me once again remind you that I would not take time out of MY day to do this for anyone." He said dragging her from building to building. He was getting more and more impatient as they went along, due to never having to move around this slow before. It wasn't his thing. "Pick up the pace would ya. I'm getting old here."  
  
"Oh yes, your company is greatly appreciated." She muttered. Pietro just smiled.  
~*~*~ After a short walk from the school, they arrived at what looked like an old abandoned warehouse.  
  
"So this is your amazing hide out huh? Kinda has that homie-bat-cave feel to it." Kat remarked with a voice normally used for an after school special. She dusted off an old crate and sat down. Pietro paced a bit just because he didn't like to sit if he could help it. "What? It's a good place to come and think."  
  
"You mean to tell me you think?" Kat looked to Pietro and smirked, but he didn't smile back. "What?"  
  
Pietro knew that now was his time to work his charm to the fullest, but not the sort of charm that comes with flirting, more like a serious intellectual charm. He gave her most meaningful eyes and managed to sit down.  
  
"I used to come here to think about different stuff, like my family and the whole 'different' sides thing."  
  
She could tell he was really being serious. "Your family?" she asked. She had never really thought about his or anyone else's family. Never truly having one her self, it just wasn't something that had crossed her mind before.  
  
"Yeah, it's pretty messed up, with my adopted family and my real father. What about you?"  
  
She just looked at him for a moment thinking. "Never really had one. My parents died when I was young I guess. I lived on the streets for most of my life. There was this guy that I guess you could say took care of me. He was a mutant too, but he wasn't the most nurturing guy ever. He's dead now, so that's how I ended up here." Kat said realizing that this had been the first time that she had brought up her past since she had come to Bayville.  
  
Pietro just looked at her. 'Good' he thought to himself 'She trusts me". They sat in silence for a minute or two before Kat remembered that school was still going on somewhere and that they should probably head back.  
  
"What time is it? We should go back." But the truth was, was that she didn't want to go back. She liked the comforting, dark, musty, atmosphere of the creaky old building.  
  
"I guess." Pietro didn't care what they did at this point. Everything was going better than he had expected. He would end up surprising the X- Men, and most importantly he would prove to his father that he was capable of more than just what ever the brotherhood told him to do. As they left the building, Pietro couldn't help but smile at the thought that he was a very talented actor indeed.  
  
SN: My god, I'm sorry that took so long. I had horrible writer's block, my computer crashed twice and I was on vacation for two weeks. I apologize, really I do. Oh, and just for fun, I've been trying to match songs with the characters of X-Men. Maybe not all the characters but some of them anyway. So far I thought that "I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace was perfect for Pietro. If you have any ideas, let me know. 


	6. Beautiful Meltdown

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, I don't own reality t.v. shows, all I own in this world is Kat/Acidwash. Which is nothing more than a fictional character, so you could say I own absolutely nothing.  
  
-O-tay, chapter 6. I'm hoping to get this one done faster than the last chapter. There should be only a couple more chapters until I finish this story, but I'm thinking about a possible sequel, so ya never know...  
  
-Chapter 6: Beautiful Meltdown  
  
"Hey Scott," Kat said as he walked into the kitchen. She had been once again digging through the cupboards looking for a snack as he walked in. Jean and Kitty sat at the kitchen table with Kitty jabbering away about school and friends while Jean poked at her bowl of melting ice cream disdainfully. But seeing Scott, she seemed to perk up and smile.  
  
"Oh, hey Kat." Scott said looking at Jean. Kat just smiled as she watched the reaction between them. She had come to learn through every day life around the institute, that the two were just a little more than friends. She realized that the people she had once dreaded facing, were slowly and subtlety becoming her friends. She was amused by Scott with his leader-like attitude that just masked a typical awkward teenager, she had played pranks with Kurt, rode bikes with Evan and even had a fairly decent conversation with Jean on how reality shows were too fake to be anything short of scripted. She didn't even really have the urge to act in front of them, with the exception of one or two authoritive mutants that she was still a little unnerved by.  
  
"Um, Kat, the professor vants to see you." Said Kurt as he entered the now semi-crowded kitchen. Kat felt her stomach ball up in a knot. She stood up from the floor and looked at Kurt nervously before leaving to head toward the professor's stage.  
  
~*~*~  
  
As Kat headed down the hall she remembered that it would take more than physical acting to fool a telepath. As it was he probably knew that she was planning on trying her best at not looking nervous in front of him. but she would sit calmly in front of him, listen to what ever he had to say, nod and leave. Before she knew it, she was reaching for the door handle. She took one deep breath and then walked in.  
  
"Ah, hello Kat." The professor greeted her in a pleasant and gentle tone. His caring nature helped, but she was still somewhat edgy. Figures of authority had always made her uncomfortable. She had never really had any good incidents with them and they had always accused her of doing something wrong just by the way she looked.  
  
"Please take a seat," Kat did as she was told. "I wanted to talk to you about your academic status. I understand you have made some new friends at your school recently and-"  
  
Mr. Logan, or Wolverine as he was sometimes called, who had been leaning against the back wall of the professor's office walked over and slammed his hand down on the desk. Kat wondered if he realized just how hard he had hit the desk. "Cut to the chase Chuck," he said as he turned to stare at the very intimidated Kat who was working very hard to hold her 'you-don't-scare-me' look on her face. "You cut class with Pietro Maximoff, one of the brotherhood, and we wanna know why," he paused for a moment to look at the professor and then back to Kat, "Well I wanna know why anyway."  
  
She sat for a moment thinking of the best thing to say. She could feel the venom in her veins pulse through her as she looked at the professor and abandoned her original idea of just making something up. The first thing that came to mind seemed safest.  
  
"He dared me too." Sputtered Kat, not believing that she had just said something that brainless. Feeling the same way, Logan raised an eyebrow at her. "Right," he muttered, but before he could say anything else, the professor cut him off.  
  
"Well, whatever the reason, I would prefer that you stay in school and as you might have already heard, the brotherhood, is, well, a little dangerous. I realize that you're still fairly new here, and still adjusting, but that does not give you the right to skip school. So as punishment, you will be training every morning with Mr. Logan and some of the other students." He smiled compassionately, in his father-like smile as if "he-was- doing-it-out-of-love" and dismissed Kat.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"So-" said a slick and confident voice from the other side of the locker door. Kat slammed the door shut as hard as she could and glared angrily at Pietro.  
  
"You jerk, I've got to train in the mornings now ALONG with having to train in the afternoon. Why did I ever listen to you?" she yelled.  
  
Pietro just looked at her. He was completely satisfied with this out come. Just what he wanted. "I didn't force you to do anything, so technically, it's not my fault or problem that you got caught." He replied coolly and turned to walk away.  
  
Kat was too speechless to yell back at him. She felt her eyes start to glow bright green, as they often did when she got mad, and ducked to the bathroom before anyone saw.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Pietro lay on his back on his bed at home. He smiled to himself. His plan was set. Kat had played into his hands. It couldn't have gone more smoothly if he wanted it to. It would be cake to zip in, lock down the mansion and then blow the 'danger room' sky high, with all the X-Nerds inside. It wouldn't take him long to crack the codes and bust the security system. He was truly a genius. Pietro even happily snickered at how easy it was to sway Kat into telling him about the danger room and some about how it worked. In the end she had falling for him. They always fell for him. After all he was the irresistible, handsome and witty Pietro Maximoff. The challenge had been won. 


	7. Kamikaze Love Song Part 1

Disclaimer: For the last freaking time, I own zip, zero, nota, zilch! All right, I own Kat/Acidwash, but that's it…for now.

-Alrighty now, this is the last chapter. Or the second to last chapter, but it has a second part. Yep, let's get confusing for the finale. There is NO excuse for why this chapter took me SO long to complete, so I'll just say the real reason. I'm lazy. But here it is. I hope you enjoy it and the last chapter will be on here in a couple days. I doubt there will be a sequel, but you will probably see Kat around again. I know allot of people thought this story would turn out one-way or another, but I had a plan for it all along. I also especially love the title of this chapter. A friend needed a title for a song that their band was doing and this is what I came up with for him. I want all the reviews I can get for this story so PLEASE tell me what you think. Enjoy…

-Chapter 7: Kamikaze Love Song: Part 1

"COME ON PICK IT UP ON THE LEFT SIDE!" shouted Scott as he rolled to out of the way of laser fire. The Danger Room was in full gear. Optic blasts, bony spikes and laser beams were going off all around Kat as she ran and dove her way around the numerous obstacles that filled the lethal room. The full team of X-Men with the exception of Strom and Beast who were away on a field trip with the younger students, were working their hardest at defending themselves and their teammates.

"LOOK OUT!" shouted Rogue as Kat looked up to see another canon ready to fire at her. She quickly thrust out her hands shooting a sizzling stream of bright green acid at the looming weapon. The acid instantly began to eat through the metal holding the canon to the wall and it came crashing to the ground. "Nice work." Said Scott as he ran past her. She smiled to herself at the complement and then quickly turned her attention back to the action around her.

Pietro leaned up against one of the brick pillars that supported the gates to the Xavier Institute, surveying the area. There were cameras undoubtedly set up with an assortment of weapons ready to fire at any uninvited guests who entered the grounds. It wouldn't take much for Pietro to fly right past them, and once inside he had a fairly good idea where he was going. He had seen the X-Jet fly out of several places and suspected that the back entrance would be better than trying to pound his way through the basketball court, and it would be a more discreet too.

The challenge was set. His time to move was now. Zipping around to the back of the Institute he saw the cliff with a waterfall and knew that some where behind the waterfall, lay the entrance to their underground battle area. That was where the control room would be, and that was where Pietro knew he needed to be.

"Here goes," he said as he ran to the bottom of the cliff, looked up at the waterfall, and then ran straight up against the flow of the water. A second later he was standing at the mouth of the entrance. A large metal door blocked his way in. Seeing a control panel, he silently laughed to him self. Putting his hand on the panel, his fingers began to fly over every button. It was only a matter of time before he hit the correct sequence and the door would open. Five minutes later the metal door flew open to reveal a large hanger equipped with different controls and vehicles. Pietro snickered at the assorted motor vehicles, to him wheels were worthless and he couldn't understand how any one could satisfy a "need for speed" with them. Quickly zooming through the room, Pietro hit a long metal hallway. "Magneto would love this place," he said quietly to himself as he flew down the hallway to avoid being caught by any sensors that might have been active. Seeing the main control room, he jerked to a stop and readily turned into the room as the door slid shut behind him. Running against the wall under the camera, Pietro grabbed hold and ripped the camera off the wall, throwing it to the ground.

"Now to get rid of the X-Geeks." He said to himself as he walked over to the largest monitor, producing a picture of the combating X-Men live in action. Scanning the controls he gentelly ran his fingers over the computer keys. "This could be fun." He said to himself with a smile. Once more his fingers flew over the controls as he bugged and locked the computer and defense system. There would be no going in, or getting out of the Xavier Institute now.

"Sequence initiated. Lock down complete. Self Destruct mode in twenty minutes." Echoed a monotone voice over a loud speak mounted some where on the wall. Pietro smiled deviously to himself. Twenty minutes was the lowest amount of time he could set for the destruction process but he figured no one would notice anything wrong until it was to late. Plus with the lock-down systems activated, he figured they would have too hard a time getting out of the Institute to make it out in time. "Nice knowing ya." Pietro said as he zoomed out of the building. He was very proud of himself, and he hoped his father would be too.

"What the?" questioned Wolverine starring down at the little red light that was now blinking at him from the control panel in the overhead control room in the Danger Room. "That can't be good. Professor, you might want to come look at this." He said to the other side of the room where the professor was sitting, watching his students down below.

"What is it Logan?" he said as he rolled forward to where Wolverine stood, mesmerized by the flashing warning. "No that is defiantly not good indeed. Something is very wrong" Fast paced clacking could be heard as the Professor worked away at finding the problem. "It looks as if our computers have been hacked, and who ever it was they placed the Institute under self destruction! We have to get the students out of here…and NOW!" he said severely, tuning to Logan.

"Stop the training program!" shouted Wolverine. Professor Xavier typed some more on the panel, "It won't shut off. They'll just have to work around it. You get them out of here and I'll see if I can stop the program."

"No Chuck, I won't let you stay here!" yelled Logan once more at the Professor.

"Don't argue with me. It may be the only shot we've got. Now go. HURRY!" he replied as Wolverine reluctantly began to claw at the glass that looked out at to the room below. Bursting through it, he landed on the ground with a roll.

"Jean, try to block some of the attacks for a moment!" shouted Logan above the roar. Jean did as she was told and every one else gathered around her and Logan. "The Institute is in self-destruct mode. We have to get out of here!" a slight gasp rolled through the small group as the shock hit them.

"What about the Professor?" asked Scott.

"He's trying to stop the program while we get out." Scott started to protest. "Look kid, I already tried, but he's not leaving, so we might as well fallow orders. We have to find a way to bust open those doors!" He yelled.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold this up!" moaned Jean.

"Evan, Rogue, Kurt, Jean, you hold off the attacks, the rest of you, help me break down the doors!" The students separated into their separate groups and went to work.

"I can try and phase people through!" offered Kitty.

"We don't have that kind of time!" answered Wolverine.

"Then let me blast it!" Scott said firing a strong beam at the door. It dented in but still didn't break down.

"Here…try this!" Yelled Kat as she ran to the door. She placed her hands on the large piece of metal and pushed into the door. Her hands began to sink in and eat away at the door. She made a large circle into the door and then turned to Scott. "Now try and blast it!" Scott gave it a strong shot and it blew out.

"That will work!" said Logan as he called the rest of the students through the opening in the door. "Now for the next twelve sets of doors."

Slowly the group made there way through the sets of thick heavy doors. Each section contained an assortment of weaponry that continued to assault the students as they burned and blasted their way to the exit. Kat began to feel light headed around the eighth door. She had used much of her body's acid, and it was taking affect on her. The tremendous noise that had once been the blasting of lasers had slowly dulled to a hum beneath the terrible ringing in her ears.

"We're not going to make it!" yelled a voice from behind her. The room spun faster and faster making it hard for her to even see straight.

"Kitty! Start phasing them through! We have to HURRY!!" Shouted another voice. Her vision became clouded and she felt her hold on consciousness slip. The room closed in darkness and it was becoming hard to breathe.

"Sorry," she muttered as she fell to the ground.


	8. Kamikaze Love Song Part 2

Chapter 8: Kamikaze Love Song, Part 2

Darkness slowly opened to two blurry figures standing above Kat.

"Hurry Kurt, go get the Professor, I think she's waking up!" said a voice that seemed relatively close, fallowed by a loud "BAMF" noise, and then a whiff of smoke that soon floated around her nose. Blinking back the haze in her eyes she saw the Professor role into the room as Kitty got up to leave. "See ya later!" she said with a wave.

He smiled warmly at her in his typical caring manner. "Good to see you've woken up. You lost quite a bit of your bodily fluids, burning down those doors like you did. I'm afraid your not quite use to using that much of your acid yet."

Kat sat up quickly in her bed remembering the events that had taken place in the Danger Room, but in doing so she began to feel dizzy and laid back on her pillow. She had never been in the hospital wing before, but she figured that was where she was now. She looked at the Professor. "Is every one O.K.? Who did this? How bad is the damage?" she sputtered, her mind buzzing with questions and concern.

"Everyone is O.K., and we managed to save most of the Danger Room," he paused for a moment, his face slowly changing from gentle to serious. "but when we ran back the salvaged surveillance tapes, we saw that Pietro was the one who had broken in and tried to destroy the Institute."

Her jaw dropped as the words hit her like a slap in the face and she could still feel the sting, when she found her voice after a sort pause. She realized it was all her fault. She had trusted him and in doing so she almost killed everyone that had ACTULLY cared about her. For the first time in her life she had found people to call friends, she had found a place where she felt like she actually fit in, and she was the one who could have destroyed it all. But Pietro. How could he have done something like this? How could he do something like this…to her? Complete anger began to consume her. She felt her eyes begin to glow, and she closed them quickly.

"As long as everyone's ok." She replied as calmly as she could. "I'm afraid I feel a little tired." Kat said as she turned on her side away from the Professor.

"Well I'll let you rest. I'm glad your doing better." Said the Professor smiling gently as he wheeled around to leave the room. He knew her feelings as he left, but decided to leave her alone until she was better. Time would fix her mood.

Kat's eyes continued to glow in the pale light, illuminating the side of the outer wall she was facing as she scaled the side of the building, clinging to a sheet she had pulled of her bed and was using as a makeshift rope.

Pietro would pay for what he had done. She would make sure of it. Finally reaching the ground, she ran around to the back of the Institute, grabbed her bike and blindly rode towards the Brotherhood home.

Grabbing the door handle, she found it to be locked. Quickly ripping off each glove, she shot acid onto the handle and kicked the door wide open. It slammed hard against the wall as she stepped in looking for any sign of Pietro in the disgusting, dirt-covered house.

"Hey no girls aloud." Said an extremely large boy with a Mohawk that had stepped into the entry- way after hearing the door crash open.

"Don't get in my way tubby, I'm really not in the mood." Kat replied. She was breathing hard and her eyes and nails were glowing brightly. Soon, Lance and Todd had joined the small gathering.

"Who are you?" Lance demanded.

"Where the hell is Pietro?" Kat shouted at the three boys. She was not about to let these losers slow her down.

"Why do you want to know?" Lance asked angrily.

"Just TELL ME!" she yelled.

"I say we get rid of her on our own." Fred said eagerly waiting for orders from Lance. Lance squinted at Kat. He figured her to be a mutant due to her eyes, but he wasn't about to cooperate with anyone.

"Fine we can make this hard." She muttered. Looking up above Lance, she sent a steam of acid at the ceiling, causing it to crash down around him. Then she shot a ring around Fred, quickly collapsing the floor under him, sending him crashing down into the basement. Kat turned to Todd. He yelped seeing his teammates overcome and in different states. He sprung onto the couch narrowly avoiding another splash of acid.

"Wait yo!… I don't know where Pietro is… He's not here…JUST DON'T DISSOLVE ME!!" he shouted, but Kat was already out the door. She knew where he was.

"PIETRO! GET OUT HERE! FACE ME!" Kat shouted into the empty darkness of the warehouse. He had to be there, it was the only other place she could think. Her eyes were casting a soft greenish glow that slightly lit up the large seemingly empty room. Suddenly there was a fierce burst of wind and there stood Pietro. A smug satisfied look on his face. He may not have succeeded but he was proud of the fact that he at least showed them what he was capable of.

"What's wrong? Didn't like my little surprise?" He asked coldly. Kat glared at him. How dare he be sarcastic after what he had done?

"You used me!" she shouted. He didn't even flinch.

"What, did you just catch on?" He replied. The venom in her veins boiled, as anger ran through her. She hated him, but mostly she hated herself. She loathed the fact that she had had let her self feel safe, fool herself into believing that she could ever fit in or be accepted by anyone. She had been stupid, and it had almost cost certain people their lives. There was no place for her in this world and she knew it.

"You're going to pay Pietro!" she said as she shot a ring of acid around him. The thick concrete would take a while to completely eat through, leaving a moat-like circle at his feet.

"I wouldn't try running through that," Kat smirked devilishly. "the second your foot hits that acid, it will burn right down to the bone. And I don't think you want to start running on your ankles." Her head was pounding, but she didn't care. She was solely bent on getting revenge.

Pietro glanced down at the bubbling acid with slight worry. It was a minor set back, but he didn't like the feeling that he was trapped. But he couldn't let on that he was concerned. He had to act calm, as if none of it mattered.

"So, what is it you think you're going to do to me?" he asked smugly.

Kat paused for a moment. She hadn't thought about that. Then her smile slowly returned. "Well I could see how fast my venom reacts to your blood stream." She said looking over her fingernails. Pietro's eyebrows went up. "Or we could see if your heart really is as black as I think it is." She took a few steps closer to where Pietro was ensnared.

Pietro quickly thought about the suggestions. He wasn't sure if she would actually carry out her pay back plans or not. She wasn't like the rest of the X-Men. It would turn out better for him if he played on the fact that she had to stop and think about it. At least if he could keep her talking, he could stall until enough of the acid was gone and he could get away.

"You can't do it. You don't have it in you." He said confidently.

"Watch me." But when she put out her hands to spray the acid, she froze. Somewhere a voice told her to just kill him, but then she knew she would be just like him. The thing she hated the most right next to herself. She just stood there. She could move, she couldn't feel anything.

"Some day Pietro, your going to hurt someone you really love…and that's when I'll stop regretting that I didn't kill you." She turned around and walked blankly into the darkness. She didn't want to see his reaction. She didn't want to see him. Ever, ever again.

The entire Institute was sleeping. The main lobby was dark and silent and she was almost sad to leave it.

"Running away from your problems won't solve them." Said the Professor from behind her. She knew he would get to her before she left. She was calm now, empty in a way. As if she was completely numb.

"If I'm not here there won't be any problems." She replied facing the door.

"There will always be problems. Each of us have our own demons to face." He said.

"As long as I'm gone no else has to face my demons with me. No one will get hurt." A tear ran down her face and splashed to the ground instantly eating into the marble. She was still facing the door. "Good bye Professor." She said in the dark as she stepped forward and opened the door. She took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp night air. She had stopped acting long ago, but some how she still felt like she was hiding.

It had started to rain just as the 1:30 train pulled into the station. Normally Kathleen would have been outside soaking wet, but she needed to board her train. She needed to leave, to run away. Again. She wasn't sure where she was headed exactly, but wherever it was she was headed, she would not make the same mistakes she had made before. She just had to keep in mind her odds. She would be on her own again, like she had been so many times before. The world would hate her again, because of what she was, who she was. She was against the odds. And when against all odds, you lose. It's purely that simple.


End file.
